HIPPOPOTAMUS AMPHIBIUS.
lated towards the tail. The body almost cylindrical, and the nates are very
full, and behind slightly arched ; the legs are remarkably short, so that when
the animal is standing, the most depending part of the belly almost touches
the ground ; the tail is short and moderately robust,—towards the point, vertically
compressed and edged above and below with wiry hairs,—towards the
base, nearly cylindrical; teats two, placed close to each other, and pendent
from the udder nearly on a line with the anterior edge of the hinder leg. On
the lips there are a number of small tufts of fine hair, resembling pencils, each of
which, on emerging from the skin, generally consists of four or five hairs that
afterwards split into several others; a few tufts of the same description also
occur on the sides of the head ; the remains of single hairs also occur on the
sides of the neck and body; in young specimens, the number and length of
the latter are greater than in adult ones; the hairs fringing the upper and
lower edges of the tail are rigid and short, and many of them fully half a
line in diameter at the base. Feet rather small for the size of the animal,
slightly depressed in front, and terminated anteriorly by four short, clumsy,
and unconnected toes, each furnished with a small hoof; behind the roots of
the toes, the skin of the foot is loosely connected with the parts beneath,
and is rather pliant and usually marked with several transverse furrows.
DIMENSIONS.
Feet. Inches. Feet Inches.
Length from the edge of the upper lip Length of the ear....................... .......... 0 3
to the tip of the tail ........... 11 4 . Height of the shoulder .......... .. 4 8
of the tail ................................. 1 1 Circumference of the thickest part of
of the fore legs to the breast ... 1 10 the body.................. .............. 10 6
of the head................................. 2
The male and female, as far as colours are concerned, are nearly alike, but
in regard to size they differ materially ; the male is always considerably larger
than the female.
Previously to the establishment of the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope, Hippopotami
existed in abundance in all the larger rivers of South Africa; but no sooner did the
Colonists direct their attention to the hunting of them, than their numbers began to diminish,
partly from the destruction which was effected by the dexterous employment of fire-arms, and
partly from many individuals having soon migrated, owing to the fear which was excited by
the newly introduced weapons. At present, scarcely one exists in any o f the rivers of the
Cape colony, and even but very few in streams within a moderate distance of it. On the
Expedition arriving in latitudes too remote to be readily reached by hunters furnished with firearms,
every large river was found to abound in specimens, and in those the animals appeared,
as they probably did some two hundred years ago much nearer to the southern extemity of
the continent, familiar, comparatively fearless of man, and generally prepared to survey, with
curiosity, any intrusion upon their haunts. To convey some idea of the numbers in which they
HIPPOPOTAMUS AMPHIBIUS.
were found in Several of the rivers towards the tropic of Capricorn, it may suffice to state,
that in the course of an hour and a half a few members of the Expedition-party killed seven
within gun-shot of their encampment; several other individuals were in the same pool, and
might also have been killed had it been desirable. One of the survivors was observed to make
his escape to an adjoining pool, and in accomplishing that, he walked with considerable rapidity
along the bottom of the river, and with his back covered with about a foot of water.
The Hippopotami feed chiefly upon grass, and for that purpose resort to situations near the
banks of rivers which are fitted to supply their food. In districts fully inhabited by man, they
generally pass the day in the water, and seek their nourishment during the night; but in localities
differently circumstanced, they often pass a portion of the day as well as the night upon dry
land. In countries in which the night-time constitutes the only safe period for their leaving
the water, they are generally to be seen effecting their escape from it immediately before
dark, or are to be heard doing so soon after the day has closed, and according to the
state of the surrounding country; they then either directly commence feeding, or begin a
journey towards localities where food may exist. When, previous to nightfall, they may have
been in pools of rivers, they are generally at once enabled to commence feeding on reaching the
dry land; but when they may have passed the day in the sea, they require commonly to proceed
some distance after leaving it before they find the grass which appears congenial to their
palate. It is not every description of grass that Hippopotami seem to relish ; they often pass
over, in search of food, luxuriant green-swards, which would strongly attract many other animals
which feed upon grass. Besides having a peculiar relish for the grasses of certain situations,
they appear to have a predilection for districts supporting brushwood; and owing to the latter
peculiarity, they are often to be found wandering in localities on which but little grass exists,
when they might have it in the neighbourhood in great abundance, but without the accompaniment
of wood. The whole o f the night is probably not more than is necessary to
admit of the Hippopotamus acquiring sufficient food for its wants; but if that be otherwise, it
certainly prefers to pass what portion of the night may be unnecessary for procuring nourishment
upon the dry land, rather than in the water, being generally only seen to retire to the
latter upon light returning.
It is difficult to decide, whether the Hippopotamus prefers the pools of rivers, or the waters
of the ocean for its abode during the day. When an opportunity of exercising a choice exists,
some individuals embrace the one, and some the other. During a journey I some years ago
made to Port Natal and the country beyond it, I had numerous opportunities of observing the
footsteps, as made by these animals while entering and leaving the sea ; and on one occasion
my party had an opportunity of opposing a female accompanied by a young one, on their way
to the sea, in which attempt the party proved unsuccessful.
The excrement of the Hippopotamus, in common with that of the Elephant and the Rhinoceros,
is voided in immense cylindrical masses; and these masses, when examined in the case of
the Hippopotamus, seem principally to consist of comminuted grass, apparently but little altered
by the process it must have undergone, and certainly in a drier condition than it could possibly
have entered the stomach.
With regard to the disposition of the Hippopotamus, that may be described as peaceable and
inoffensive. When the animal is wounded, however, or when it happens to be accompanied in its
excursions upon dry land by young ones, it manifests no trifling degree of ferocity, and instantly
gives chace if in any way interrupted in the course it may be pursuing. The one which my party